If you observe the invested and what Rijeka could get as permanent ownership, is this project expensive or not?
— It’s not expensive, i.e. great funds are invested in it from different sources, for the program and for infrastructure. Total value of the project is around €70 million, where around €27 million is intended for cultural and artistic program and accompanying activities, and the rest of the amount is for construction of infrastructure (reconstruction of cultural buildings and the ship Galeb), but significant EU grants, assets from European funds, will also be used for construction of infrastructure. New cultural buildings that are being built in the former abandoned factory complex downtown will remain a permanent ownership and permanent heritage of Rijeka. Rijeka will get a new building for the City Museum, with a permanent exhibition about Rijeka’s history, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art has already moved into its building built in the first stage. We are also building the City Library building and building for the Children’s House – the first one of this kind in Croatia – which will be the starting point and a meeting place of children's creativity. Tito’s ship, the Galeb, is also being restored, and it will become a ship-museum. Also, a big warehouse building in the port area in Rijeka is being renovated, and it will be the place for major exhibitions in 2020. All this will stay a permanent heritage of Rijeka. And all this is being restored with a high percentage of EU funds, and this will leave more money for other purpose in the local budget, because if the City had built this infrastructure only with its own funds, the reconstruction would probably last much longer, and it would cost the local community much more as well. Also, the art program that takes place in Rijeka in 2020 will attract many visitors to Rijeka, and the citizens of Rijeka and the region will get the opportunity to attend numerous world-class artistic performances in their own city. This experience is extremely valuable. Additionally, with this project, Rijeka has already now gained such great international visibility with which it’s building a positive image not only as a tourist destination, but also as a city that is open, modern and alive, a city that’s good to live in, but also to invest in. Only at the opening we had more than 70 foreign media from 15 countries. Something
like that could hardly be achieved through some marketing campaign, and I won’t even mention the price of that kind of campaign. What is it actually that should remain, is it the spaces, the spirit of culture, of Europe, or something else how you would like this project to continue to exist in 2021?
— It’s both, the spaces I already talked about but also the experience of the audience that will attend many forms and performanc-
are working on implementation of the project. Also, already in the preparation stage, a number of people from civic initiatives, who proposed and carried out minor projects in the field of city planning or cultural programs in smaller groups or neighbourhoods, were involved with the project. I would like all this to remain a permanent heritage of the project. Active citizens in an active city, permanent cultural objects in which numerous programs will continue to be implemented and people who
AS A CAPITAL OF CULTURE, RIJEKA HAS GAINED INTERNATIONAL VISIBILITY WITH WHICH IT’S BUILDING A POSITIVE IMAGE NOT ONLY AS A TOURIST DESTINATION, BUT ALSO AS A CITY THAT IS OPEN, MODERN AND ALIVE, A CITY THAT’S GOOD TO LIVE IN, BUT ALSO TO INVEST IN es of culture and art. Also, this project brings permanent sculptures in one of its programming directions, Lungomare Art, and these sculptures will be placed in several locations in the Kvarner area, and they form a kind of a tourist and artistic route. But, maybe the most important thing is that the people who were involved in this project and who gained and are gaining many experiences and know-how through the project, will stay after the ECC project. In the preparation period, we conducted a series of educations on organization of cultural events and audience inclusion, but a great number of people from institutions that are our partners and in the company Rijeka 2020, which was established for the implementation of the European Capital of Culture Project,
will carry and implement these programs when it comes to both organization and performance. The Maribor Project, one of many, ended in bankruptcy. How great a financial risk is it to get the title of the capital of culture?
— It’s an individual story for each European Capital of Culture. Since these are mainly public funds used to finance the project, European, state and local, logics lead to a conclusion that it shouldn’t be a risky project financially. Every country and city invest in it voluntarily, and they apply in hope that they will get the title. However, precisely because these are public funds, politics or political quarrels of those who hold different levels of government, may be risky for the project. We don’t have such a
problem. During the entire period of preparations, we enjoyed the support from the Government of Croatia, from the County and from the City. The City of Rijeka is the holder of this title, and the Government, County, University and the Tourist Board are strategic partners in the project. We have good cooperation with everyone. Politics don’t interfere with artistic program, they support our work and we are grateful to all of them for that. And that is the path that leads to success of the project.
You have a rich career in the field of culture behind you. Did you have the freedom you wanted and will Rijeka 2020 remain written in red in your personal CV?
— Yes it will. This is certainly one of the greatest projects that I lead and it will remain written not only in my CV but also in my heart. The people I work with are investing great effort to make the project a success. We know and respect each other, we argue and make up. There is a huge amount of positive energy between us. These are very intense years in my career and in my life. I do have freedom in the sense of project management, but it is not and it must not be absolute. Because I am not alone in the project. Slaven Tolj is the Project’s Art Director, the project has seven program sections, each of them has its own manager, and important partners in its implementation are Rijeka’s cultural institutions, as well as numerous associations and organizations, almost 300 of them. In that sense, such a comprehensive participatory project also secures great freedom, but also a great deal of patience in coordination and management.
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